


To Be

by FreshBrains



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Arendelle, F/F, Family Fluff, Female Friendship, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, POV Multiple, Post-Season/Series 04, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 18:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3421622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreshBrains/pseuds/FreshBrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma and Regina are invited to have their wedding at Arendelle, but they spend the morning before the ceremony with their loved ones instead of each other.  They've never been conventional.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Val_Creative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy, friend! <3

Emma wakes up to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes and cocoa wafting into the room—a smell she knows better than anyone, she’s proud to say.  “Breakfast time,” she murmurs, reaching out to swat at her fiancée on the other side of the bed, but she only hits fluffy pillows.

“Crap,” she sighs, burying her face back into her pillow.  She remembers where she is, and remembers Regina isn’t snuggled up in the world’s most comfortable bed with her.

“Good morning, bride-to-be,” a gentle voice says from the doorway, and Emma grins, cracking an eye open at the sound of her friend’s voice.

Elsa comes into the room with an elaborate tray full of breakfast dishes—pancakes, orange juice, bacon, and the biggest pot of cinnamon-laced cocoa Emma’s ever seen.  “Scoot over, we’re having breakfast in bed.”  In a most unqueenly manner, Elsa is still wearing her navy flannel pajamas and thick socks, her ice-blond hair in a messy braid over her shoulder.

“You know I love you, but you’re not exactly the person I expected to see first thing on my wedding day,” Emma says with a smile, pulling back the white duvet to let Elsa in.  “Did you kidnap my fiancée?”

“Of course not,” Elsa says cheerfully.  She pours Emma a cup of cocoa.  “Anna did.”

Emma groans.  “God, Regina’s going to _love_ that.”

“Regina’s going to be just fine,” Elsa says, rubbing Emma’s shoulder.  “You know, I feel like I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here.  I’m supposed to give you friendly advice about being a married woman but I’m practically an old maid.”

Emma rolls her eyes.  “If you’re an old maid, I’m screwed,” she says, dotting Elsa’s nose with whipped cream from the pancakes.  “You know, in Storybrooke, we’re actually considered pretty young.  Some people would say _too_ young for marriage.”

“Tell that to Anna and Kristoff,” Elsa jokes.  “At least I know he’s one of the good ones.”  She looks out the big bay window into Arendelle, the town already awake and buzzing for the upcoming wedding of their special visitors from Misthaven. 

Emma frowns, pausing mid-sip.  “Are you not sure about someone else?  Someone who might _not_ be a good one?”

Elsa looks back at her, eyes wide and bright, with just a glitter of cool worry.  “You never told me Belle was such a good dancer.  And a good _drinker_.” She giggles, looking down at the quilts.  “And a good storyteller, especially when it comes to the queen.”

Emma sighs and curls back into bed, cocoa in tow.  She knew she should’ve told her trusted friend and bridesmaid all about her history with Regina, but she didn’t see the point—they’d tried so hard to keep the past in the past, and that was all Emma wanted.  “Belle wasn’t lying about any of it, but I’m sure the mead didn’t help.”

“I just,” Elsa says, and stops.  She laces her fingers though Emma’s.  “After Hans, I just want to be so sure.  So sure that the people I love are with people who _truly_ love them.”  She smiles, the kind of smile she reserves for her best friends.  “I see the way she looks at you, Emma.  But I still have my worries.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be Elsa without worries,” Emma said, snuggling up closer to Elsa.  “But that way she looks at me?  I see it too.  And she doesn’t look at anyone else like that.” She closes her eyes and feels a flush rise to her cheeks, and she gets an excited thrill through her stomach.  “If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t be here.”

“I know,” Elsa says, stroking Emma’s hair.  “I trust you.  And I trust her.”

“She’d never admit to it,” Emma says, nodding towards the cocoa pot so Elsa will pour her another cup, “but she’d love to hear that coming from you.”  She closes her eyes once more, savoring the quiet moment with her friend. 

It’s her last morning as an unmarried woman, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

*

“Look, I would _love_ to let you see your fiancée, but I really, _really_ can’t let you pass,” Anna says, cringing under Regina’s glare.  She tugs her pink robe tighter around herself, a fruitless attempt at bolstering her authority.  “You know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!”

Regina sighs, long suffering, and rubs her temples.  “Princess Anna, I assure you, I’m well-versed on all the conventions of marriage.  But I’m also a very, _very_ impatient woman.” She ducks left to try to sneak out the double doors beneath Anna’s arm, but Anna is much quicker and stands strong.

“The queen’s orders,” Anna says, eyes serious, but fighting a smile.  “Come on, you wouldn’t get me into trouble with my _sister_ , would you?”

Regina raises an eyebrow and backs away to sit on the edge of the bed.  “Good thing Emma likes you.”  She laces her fingers together and crosses her legs, looking at Anna expectedly.  “So what exactly are you doing in my bedchamber at this hour?”

“Besides making sure you stay put,” Anna says with a pointed look, “I’m here to bring you breakfast and provide you company before your maid of honor comes to prepare you for the ceremony.”

Regina smirks, but eyes the tray of apple muffins and coffee left on the washstand.  “I’ll invite you to stay for breakfast, but I’m afraid I won’t need the company before Tinker Bell arrives.” She shifts a little in her mauve pajamas, uncomfortable to be sharing this conversation with a woman she hardly knows.  “Like I said, this is not my first marriage.”

Anna flushes and grabs the tray.  “Oh, of course.  I know that.  I mean, I’m not here to talk to you about the wedding night or anything.”  She busies herself with the coffee cups and plates, setting the tray delicately on the bed.  “You should’ve seen Elsa try to talk to me about that.  If she’d gotten any redder, she’d get _fire_ powers, and that would be all sorts of new trouble.”

Regina can’t help but smile.  She likes Anna’s candidness, her lack of fear or pretense around the famed evil queen of Misthaven.  Emma was always trying to get her to know Anna better since she was such good friends with Elsa, but Regina already has a friend, thank you very much.  She supposes Anna will do in a pinch.  “My mother gave me that talk as well.  There was little embarrassment, but much eye-rolling.”

Anna plops onto the bed next to Regina, the coffee cups rattling.  “Elsa says she’ll never get married.  She wants to be free too much.” She nibbles on a pastry.  “She should find a husband like Kristoff.  He’s very low maintenance.”

Regina focuses hard for a moment—with her magic, she can sense Emma in the castle, and she feels her warm presence only a few rooms down with Elsa.  It immediately comforts her as she takes a sip of coffee.  “Emma is my freedom.  Marrying her won’t mean giving anything up.”

Anna grins, all young optimism and sweetness.  “And two brides means two _amazing_ wedding dresses.” 

Regina rolls her eyes for the umpteenth time, but she tends to agree.  “I’d like to thank you formally for allowing me to wear your dress.  I was afraid the alterations would decrease its value to you.”

Anna shakes her head and leans in suddenly for a hug, which Regina begrudgingly returns.  “Of course not.  Wedding dresses should be worn, not stowed in a closet.”  She pulls back to face Regina.  “Besides, Emma has her mother’s dress.  We couldn’t let you go without.”

Regina never told the sisters about how she had an array of dresses to choose from—her first wedding gown, her mother’s gown, even dresses designed by the best seamstresses and tailors in the land.  But none of them made her feel like she needed to feel on her wedding day, the day she’d truly been waiting for.  The day she joined with the only person she’d ever given her heart to.

Wearing such a lovely dress that had already seen many happy love-match weddings was the only way she wanted to marry Emma.

“I mean it,” Regina says, smiling softly at Anna.  “Thank you.”

*

“Oh, Emma,” Snow breathes, eyes brimming with tears as she looks at Emma in the large oval-shaped dressing mirror.  Elsa and Red sit on the bed, biting their lips in excitement, letting Snow and Emma have their moment.  “You’re…you’re…”

“Fluffy?” Emma supplies, though her cheeks are flushed pink with happiness.  She runs the silk gloves down the soft white feathers of the dress and admires the bodice in the mirror.  The stays are new, sure, and she’ll never get used to non-modern underwear, but she’s never felt more beautiful than in her mother’s wedding gown, found and restored from an old wardrobe in the Enchanted Forest castle. 

“Perfect,” Snow says, mouth slightly open, like she can’t believe what she sees in front of her.  “I never thought I’d see it again,” she says softly, hand settling on her daughter’s waist.  “And I never thought I’d see it on _you_.”

“It’s like seeing you again, Snow,” Red says from the bed, tears pricking her own eyes.  “You were a vision then, and Emma’s a vision now.”

“The white’s a little much,” Emma jokes, turning to see all angles of the dress.  “I mean, Regina and I have a kid.  It’s not like we’re fooling anyone.”

Snow swats Emma on the arm good-naturedly and presses a kiss to her cheek before going back to the vanity.  “It doesn’t matter what a bride’s history is, she should always wear white,” she says, and comes back with a beautiful, glittering silver necklace full of diamonds.

“Wow, Mom,” Emma says, swallowing hard at the sight of such an extravagant piece of jewelry.  “Is this what you wore for your wedding?” Snow’s always been so down-to-earth and sweet; Emma can’t see her dripping with jewels like that.

“It is,” Snow says, gently placing it around Emma’s neck and tying the clasp beneath her hairline.  “It was my mother’s.”  Her eyes go a little sad, a little drawn.  “We couldn’t recover the hairpiece, but Red made something for you.”

Red smiles and reaches into the folds of her cloak.  “Granny and my mother both wore something like this when they married,” she says, handing an elegant wreath of zinnias over to Snow.  “It’s quaint, but it works.”

“It’s perfect,” Emma says, admiring it in the mirror.  “It suits me.”  She wouldn’t feel right in a crown or tiara—no matter what her bloodline or family tree looked like, she’d always feel like the little girl whose shoes never fit and who had to get government lunches.  She loved her family and all that they’d given her, but she also remembered her roots. 

Snow adjusts the flowers in Emma’s hair and leans in, voice so soft Red and Elsa can’t hear.  “You know how I always say we wanted to give you your best chance?”

Emma nods, brow knit.  She really, _really_ hopes another you-can-still-change-your-mind talk isn’t coming.

But Snow just curls her fingers around Emma’s and meets her daughter’s eyes in the mirror.  “This is it,” she says, voice cracking with emotion.  “You’ve given yourself your best chance.”

Emma closes her eyes and leans into her mother, letting the happy tears fall as they pleased.  When Red and Elsa join their hug, Emma realizes she’s never felt this loved in her entire life—and she hasn’t even seen her fiancée yet that day.

*

“Can I come in?”

Regina’s heart immediately lifts when she hears Henry’s voice from outside the doors.  Tink lets Henry in, taking her leave with a wink towards Regina. 

Henry pauses and smiles in the doorway—Regina sometimes forgets he’s not her little boy anymore and that there are no more gaps in his smile for missing teeth.  “Wow, _Mom_ ,” he says.  “You clean up nice.”

Regina laughs and pulls him in for a hug, burying her face in his hair.  “You too, my little prince.  Did Charming help you with this?” She playfully tugs on his bowtie.

“I actually helped him,” Henry says.  “He’s wearing some fancy collar.  I prefer Storybrooke style.” He reaches up and touches the soft, pinned-back coils of Regina’s hair.  “You really look like a queen, Mom.  I mean it.” 

Regina bites her lip in an attempt not to cry, though it’s a struggle.  “A good queen?”

Henry nods, and he’s never looked like more of a young man, a young man who will grow up to be a great king.  “The best queen.  Emma’s going to be so happy to see you.”

Regina holds him close for a moment, savoring the time with her boy before all the wedding festivities.  The clock tower chimes across Arendelle, telling the kingdom the wedding will begin soon, and Regina pulls away.  “Henry Mills,” she says formally, hiding a smile.  “Will you be so kind as to escort me down the aisle today?”

Henry’s cheeks flush, embarrassed at his mom’s antics, but he’s undoubtedly pleased.  He takes her arm and straightens his back, ready for the servant to open the doors.  “I’d be happy to.”

As they enter the cool, austere hallway of the castle, Regina keeps her eyes trained ahead just in case she should catch a glimpse of her betrothed by accident.  Anna and Tink would _kill_ her if she broke the rules now, even though she knows that luck has never mattered with her and Emma. 

They don’t need luck for what they have.


End file.
